Embedded Director - 2 days per week

Everything a full-time marketing director would do, at two days a week. That means owning the marketing strategy, leading the team, managing agencies, representing marketing at board level, and taking hands-on responsibility for campaigns, content and brand. The difference from a consultant is accountability - I'm in the business, not advising from the outside.

Fractional services are retained and ongoing - a monthly engagement where I'm embedded in the business, attending meetings, owning the function and accountable for outcomes over time. Programmes are fixed-fee projects with a defined scope, a specific deliverable and an end date. A Marketing Diagnostic produces a board-ready assessment and roadmap. A Strategy Sprint answers one strategic question. Marketing Foundations builds a full strategy from scratch. Programmes are the right starting point when the brief is specific and bounded. Fractional services are the right answer when the business needs ongoing marketing leadership.

All three are retained fractional engagements - the difference is depth of involvement. Strategic Advisor is two days a month: senior judgement available to a marketing manager who has no one above them. Strategic Oversight is one day a week: strategic ownership of the function, with your team doing the execution. Embedded Director is two days a week: full strategic and operational leadership, where I'm actively running campaigns, managing agencies, developing the team and representing marketing at board level. The right tier depends on whether you need direction, oversight or hands-on leadership.

A full-time marketing director costs more than the salary figure suggests. At £110,000 - a realistic salary for an experienced sector-specific built environment hire - the all-in cost including employer National Insurance, pension and recruitment agency fee runs to approximately £145,000 in year one. That's before the three to four month gap between deciding to hire and the person starting, and before the onboarding period before they're fully effective.

A fractional retained engagement removes the recruitment fee, the employer NI, the pension contribution, the notice period and the onboarding lag. Strategic Oversight at one day per week runs to £60,000-78,000 per year. An Embedded Director at two days per week runs to £90,000-114,000 per year - significantly below the full-time cost, with no long-term commitment if circumstances change and immediate access to sector knowledge that a new hire would take months to build.

The honest comparison isn't fractional versus full-time salary. It's fractional versus the true all-in cost of a hire that may not work out.

Subject to availability, typically two to four weeks from the framing conversation to an agreed scope and start date.

Yes - most Embedded Director engagements involve leading an existing marketing manager or small team. Part of the role is developing that team so they're stronger when the engagement ends.

Three months, with a six to twelve month target. Most engagements run longer once the scope is established. If the right answer turns out to be a permanent hire, I'll say so and help with the brief and handover.

The day rate is fixed at two days a week for Embedded Director. If scope changes significantly - a rebrand, a market entry, a crisis - we'd have a conversation about whether the engagement tier needs to change rather than adding hours informally.